Anomaly
by Natasha121
Summary: Helen Cutter didn't just leave behind her husband when she disappeared 8 years ago: she also left behind her 9 year old daughter, Megan, who has been wanting answers ever since.
1. Chapter 1

I had allowed myself a lie in, for the first time in almost two months; no more exams meant I could sleep in an hour or so longer. Except, instead of waking up for school, I had to help out my dad as his assistant. Even a professor at the Central Metropolitan University needs help sometimes, but I assumed it was more of a case of keeping me out of trouble.

But not setting my alarm appeared to be a mistake, as I woke up to bright light streaming in through a gap in my curtains. A jolt of panic forced me upright and my left arm batted at my bedside table, looking for my phone. It was 09:40am, and I was running late. Shit.

I scrambled out of bed, tripping on my duvet and sending myself to the floor with a painful, cracker flavoured thud. Sharp yellow spiked up my arm as my elbow collided with the ground, which dissipated into cream throbs. Ignoring the pain, I pulled myself up and got dressed; a pair of jeans and a baggy top were all that was necessary. After feeding my plants with the rest of my water from the night before, I dashed downstairs.

I grabbed my bag, beanie and my chunky black boots and then checked the time. 09:48am. No time for breakfast, to which my stomach complained in vocal form. I put on the house alarm and dashed out the house, slamming the door behind me. I legged it as fast as I could down the street, praying that what I lacked in speed, I'd make up for in endurance.

I had just over ten minutes to make it to Dad's office on time, and something told me I wouldn't make it. Perhaps it was the sharp yellow stitch in my side twelve minutes in; or how I'd started panting after fifteen; or even the spots in my vision I started seeing as I reached campus. Either way, I couldn't be knocked for my determination, even if I arrived out of breath and dripping with sweat, five minutes late.

I continued at a slower pace, allowing myself to catch my breath a bit. Students stepped out of the way as I jogged past, some moving faster than others. Most were sipping coffee and had bags under their eyes from studying all night - something I could relate to. Once I approached the building where my dad's office was, I sped up again, hoping that he'd notice I was hurrying and take pity. Not that he'd care too much that I was late, but I'd still rather not be.

I shot past the windows to Dad's office, hoping that nobody would be there yet, but alas, 3 blurry figures came and went in the split second I hurtled by. I could guess that one was Dad, another most likely Stephen, but the last was a mystery - another professor? A student? I'd find out in a matter of seconds anyway.

I skidded to a halt right outside the office, caught my breath, and entered still pink in the face and sweaty. Stephen, Dad and the stranger were deep in conversation and hadn't yet noticed my arrival. The unknown man had dark brown hair that fell to below his ears, and wore too many layers for this time of year. Dad held aloft his fossilised Sarcopterygian - the rocky remains of a dead fish.

"Not again." I mumbled to myself, trotting down the stairs. The sound set off a waffle taste in my mouth. The flavours made my stomach grumble and I wished I'd had breakfast.

"No trace of it in the fossil record for 70 million years, and then suddenly, one of them just pops up," Dad snapped his fingers, "In the middle of the Indian Ocean." He explained to the young man.

I rolled my eyes, putting my bag down under the table Stephen was working at. He was watching the pair in amusement, no doubt at the stranger, who appeared to be a student being scolded. "You're late." Stephen teased, his voice the flavour of sticky toffee sauce.

"I overslept. It's my first day back, give me some slack." I leaned back on the table, also watching the pair. "Who is he?"

"Connor Temple. Some student, who never turns up to the seminars." Stephen lowered his voice so it was more gooey with a hint of rich dark chocolate. I licked my lips.

Connor held out a newspaper and showed it to Dad with a crispy rustle. Dad walked over to take a look, acknowledging my presence with a small nod and slight smile as he passed the fish fossil over to Stephen.

"Some sort of giant undiscovered predator." Connor's strange, new voice spoke - it was starchy and soft, like mashed potatoes.

Dad looked at the newspaper and I could see he fought the urge to roll his eyes as he passed it over to Stephen. I bit back a laugh.

"No, no, no, no. This," Connor said, taking the newspaper off Stephen, the crispy rustle making my mouth water. "This is the real thing." His eyes were wide with sincerity and belief, and it was hard to have to witness Dad crush his delusion. But it had to be done.

"Connor, you should get out more. Go to a bar, meet a nice girl. Life will seem a lot less confusing." The patronising tone of Dad's tinged his soggy cereal flavour, and I had to stifle another laugh, and turn away to avoid Connor's notice.

"I've already got a girlfriend." Connor lied. His smooth, creamy voice turned to lumpy mush, almost making me choke. That was a lie. "Sort of." I reached down for my water bottle in my backpack - a necessity for moments like this. I ignored the conversation for a while after, in an attempt to start with filing and tidying up; Dad's office was in a worse state than my room, and that was impressive to say the least. It wasn't long before my attention snapped back into the conversation, due to the sudden change in tone.

"Your wife wouldn't have ignored it." Connor had said in desperation. I looked up from my work, staring Dad in the face. It was still a soft topic, for both of us, and I knew he wouldn't take it well. Even eight years on, every mention of Mum still hurt. He paused, his eyes filled with a million memories as he tried to produce an argument. I swallowed.

"My wife was a serious scientist." Dad told Connor, defending Mum. "Not some gullible ... Monster hunter."

Connor blushed, embarrassed over his outburst. "Sorry." He apologised, and I could taste the sincerity. It didn't take away the tightness in my throat though.

"It's okay." Dad mumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear, but he had clearly been affected. He wasn't the only one. The entire room was quiet for a moment. I bit my lip.

"I thought you might ... Wanna check it out, is all." Connor sounded defeated, walking towards the door. "It's not as though the Forest of Dean is very far away though." Connor added, subtly trying to get our interest, and succeeding. Stephen's head shot up from where he was working, and Dad was wide-eyed with interest. I sighed. The forest of Dean was not somewhere I wanted to go back to, especially with other people.

"The forest of Dean?" Dad reiterated. Stephen sighed. Everyone knew the forest of Dean was where Mum was last seen, where her backpack had been found, and so of course Dad would want to investigate. Stephen and Dad exchanged glances, and I knew then that it had already been decided.

"If we leave now, we could be there by lunch." Stephen estimated, but I lost interest. I wasn't going, end of. I cleared up another pile of files, ordering them alphabetically and placing a few mislaid papers into the correct folders when I received a tap on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" I slid the files into the drawer and turned to see Dad behind me. Stephen was packing his bag and Connor was stood by the stairs, an excited look on his face, though he was biting his lip trying to stifle it.

"We're going out." He said, to which I nodded.

"Call me if you find anything." I started to turn away when I heard the mango of my name. I closed my eyes and exhaled before turning back.

"You're coming too." He told me matter-of-factly.

"What? Why?" I asked, frowning. Surely he wouldn't make me go? He knew how uncomfortable it made me.

"Since you still haven't gone to pick up your keys from your friend's house, and we don't know how long we'll be gone." Dad continued to watch me as I turned away and chewed my bottom lip, scowling.

"Well, I could just go and get my keys from her, it's not like it's that difficult." I muttered, but it didn't change his mind - he was being stubborn. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I wouldn't let them loose. "Please don't make me." I pleaded, staring into his eyes. That was when he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.

"Hey, it won't be for very long, I promise." He meant it, like he always did, but I knew we'd spend more time there than he'd mean to, like always.

"Hmm." I nodded and pulled away, grabbing my backpack. "Fine, lets go." There was no point in arguing, I didn't have the energy. "But I missed breakfast, so you're buying me food on the way."


	2. Chapter 2

For most of the journey, the smoky taste of the car engine had to be replaced by music through my noise-cancelling headphones, which played classical music that didn't make me too hungry but also tasted nice. Once I had gathered the courage to stand the taste of the car, I stopped the music and pulled the headphones around my neck.

"Why are we going to the forest of Dean?" I asked, looking in the rear-view mirror at Dad, who kept his eyes on the road.

Connor, who was sat next to me in the back of the car, pulled out the newspaper from earlier and passed it to me. The headline read:

" **MONSTER HOAX or Truly Beastly?** "

Below was a blurry photograph of a dog-like creature, except it seemed to have a crocodile's head, though it was hard to see because the photo was in black and white and was poor quality.

"That can't be real. What's it even supposed to be?" I asked, passing the paper back to Connor with a frown.

"That's what we're going to find out." Connor said, unsuccessfully suppressing his eagerness.

I raised an eyebrow. "It's probably a hoax, who are we kidding." I rolled my eyes and stared out the window again, reaching for my bottle as the engine bit at my tongue as Dad changed gears. I sighed and sipped slowly, pulling my headphones back over my ears and sighing softly. We'd been on the road for over an hour, and it shouldn't take too much longer to get there, so I turned on my music once more and closed my eyes, enveloped in a bittersweet symphony.

Many minutes passed before we came across a panicked security officer next to a broken down lorry. He babbled on about needing to show us something, so we parked and followed him to the lorry, which had been faced away from us. Hundreds of crates littered the area around the lorry, and feathers danced around them in the wind.

"I'd just finished my rounds when I, er, caught a glimpse of it on the monitor." The man explained, his raw and oily voice irritating me. Rounding the side of the lorry, we could see several large scrapes that carved into the side of the vehicle. I stepped on something soft that gave way under my foot, knocking me off balance. I righted myself easily, and was thankful for all the gymnastic lessons as a child that had stayed with me. Looking down, I saw the culprit of my trip - a dead chicken.

In fact, there wasn't just one - there were tens of them dotted about, all dead and many torn apart and bleeding. I closed my eyes and felt my stomach churn. Taking a few breaths, I opened my eyes again and moved on, this time keeping an eye out where I stepped.

"Can you imagine how much force it would take to rip this thing open? Look at the size of the marks!" Connor exclaimed, staring at the side of the lorry. "You know, if you want my opinion ..." Dad gave Connor a look, telling him to shut up. "You don't ... Do you." He finished, going quiet.

Stephen held up a dead chicken by the neck, examined it, then dropped it on the floor and looked closer at the lorry.

"Well if I found these ... Gouges, in the wild, I would be certain we were looking for a large predator." Stephen stated.

"But we're in the Forest of Dean." Dad reminded us. I couldn't help but roll my eyes - I really hated being here.

"It was huge, and it was fast. It had gone across the yard i-in a second!" The security guard said, wide eyed. Stephen walked towards the lorry, and touched it with a finger. The noise as he rubbed his skin against the metal made me shudder.

"Well, there's blood." Stephen said matter of factly. I turned to see Dad walking over past the lorry towards something I couldn't see.

"Stephen. Come and give me a logical explanation for this." Dad called from the front of the lorry. I frowned, curiously stepping closer to him, Stephen and Connor following. My heart hammered in my chest, my throat tight. _I'll return to the car if it gets too much_ , I promised myself.

"It's a hoax, obviously." Stephen said, before he saw what was there. In the metal fence, was a huge gap, which had to have been broken by something tearing its way through. "It's just a ... difficult one to pull off." He muttered, his face contemplative.

Dad walked off towards the fence, and I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking similar things. _Was this what happened last time? Was this what Mum was so interested in? Is someone else going to disappear this time?_ The thoughts brought tears to my eyes, and I cleared my throat to relieve some of the tension.

"Can I say something?" Connor asked, but Dad wasn't listening. "Is he alright?" He then asked us, but I couldn't answer. We'd pored over this site countless times and not found anything helpful. None of it helped, and it never brought her back. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was confident it was Stephen's.

"Helen Cutter came to this site 8 years ago to investigate a creature sighting. She disappeared into the forest, her body was never found. Just a rucksack, no blood, clues, nothing." He squeezed my shoulder comfortingly, but his voice was tainted slightly. I swallowed. "She just vanished." Stephen said, staring into the woods, the same way I was.

 _Time to go back to the car,_ I thought, shrugging off Stephen's hand and walking away from them all, not daring to look back as pain wracked my head and tears streamed down my cheeks. I gasped for breath as I began to sob once out of earshot. Even eight years on, it still fucking hurt, and Dad knew it. He knew it and he still brought me here anyway.

I kicked a crate at full force, grunting in frustration as I did so. I cringed at the sound as it scraped the ground and came to a stop, but I kicked at it again anyway and stood on it until it broke. It felt good, but it didn't last long.

I wiped my cheeks and sniffed hard when I tasted the dry toast of footsteps heading my way. I leaned against the car and pulled out my iPod, scrolling pointlessly up and down through the songs I had downloaded. Someone stopped next to me. I didn't look up.

"You okay?" Came the sweet, sticky toffee voice.

"Mhmm." I nodded, not looking at him. I continued to scroll through the songs, staring as if I were looking for something specific that I couldn't find.

Stephen leaned against the car next to me. "Nick wouldn't have asked you to come if he didn't think it was necessary." He said softly.

I scoffed and shoved the iPod into my pocket. "So why am I here, Stephen? I can't think of one reason, can you?" My voice was close to breaking, so I stopped and took a breath. When Stephen didn't speak, I changed the subject slightly. "Are we leaving now?" I said in a quiet voice.

"I think so." Stephen said, looking over to where Dad was now approaching, his face dark.

"Good. I missed breakfast and Dad owes me lunch." I gave a small smile, looking up at Stephen and standing to open the car door.

Stephen also stood, opening the passenger's car door. "Well, the closest place is the Eddington Hotel, we could go there." He suggested, looking at the map he had brought.

"There'd better be something nice." I appreciated how he was trying to shift my mood by allowing the change in subject.

But once back in the car, awaiting Dad to reach the car, I plugged my headphones back in and continued to try not to think about Mum - and failed. Dad soon reached us and without a word, we drove away in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

At the Eddington Hotel, Dad went inside with me for a drink whilst I grabbed two packets of crisps and a bottle of lemonade and made my way back to the car, wishing we could have stayed for a meal instead of having to move off again. I sighed, opening the packet and tucking in whilst walking. Connor and Stephen were stood by the car, Connor with his laptop out on the car bonnet, looking intently at the screen. They both turned when they heard me open the crisp packet behind them.

"You weren't long." Connor noted, holding his hand out for a crisp. I reluctantly held out the packet so he could take a few, but I didn't offer any to Stephen. I was too hungry for much more sharing.

"Yeah, well, we weren't exactly going to stay for lunch with you guys waiting out here." I muttered, scoffing another handful. Connor nodded and turned his laptop around so both Stephen and I could see what he was doing.

"This database contains constantly updated information on all extinct vertebrates." He explained, scrolling through the animals. "I've been building it every spare second since I was 14." He added, grinning excitedly. His orange juice voice was getting sweeter the more excited he got.

"It's impressive." Stephen admitted as Connor clicked on "Mosasaur" which was also titled as "Tylosaurus". The database contained a lot of information, from size and weight to possible colourations and hunting styles. Even if it was irrelevant, it was interesting.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Connor gave me a small nudge and I laughed, nodding.

"Looks interesting." I told him, reading the rest of the page before Connor clicked off the page and returned to the rest of the database.

"And slightly sad." Stephen added, stepping away from the laptop. It was a productive hobby, something that I could understand and get behind, even if Stephen couldn't.

"You know we're not talking about a wild cat, don't ya?" Connor said, and it was then I noticed Dad walking towards us with a woman.

"This is Claudia Brown, from the Home Office. She will be coming with us." Dad told us as we all took in the stranger before us. She had shoulder-length wavy brown hair, brown eyes and freckles. She was pretty, but she did not look like someone who would walk through the forest with us without complaining. And the way she looked at Dad … it gave me shivers. I gave her an hour before she gave up and left.

"Maybe it's a cover up." Connor attempted to side comment to Stephen, but was nowhere near quiet enough.

"What is he talking about?" Claudia's voice was uncomfortable. It was dry and sugary and made me feel sick. Was that bile at the back of my throat or just my synaesthetic response to her voice? Either way, I could barely stand to be near her.

"Connor never met a conspiracy theory he didn't like." Dad said, and with that, I was saved. I cleared my throat and entered the car, desperate to put my headphones in so I didn't have to hear _her._

To my bitter disappointment, Claudia was a bit of a chatterbox. She spoke a lot throughout the journey and once we arrived, I made sure to keep my lemonade on hand instead of in my backpack. But I had to remove my headphones once we reached the woods, just in case we really do find something out here. But to be on the safe side, I stuck right behind Stephen, who was as the front, so her voice could be even a little fainter.

"If there really is some creature around here, wouldn't the journalists have found it by now?" Claudia asked, and I quickly took a sip of my drink. I held the liquid in my mouth, even as Dad talked, because I knew she'd pipe up again.

"They wouldn't know what they were looking for."Dad said, almost cockily. I wasn't sure whether or not to take that as showing off, but I wasn't going to ask.

"But you do?" Claudia asked, raising an eyebrow. I swallowed the drink and took a breath.

"See, Stephen tracked down wounded animals in the rainforest for up to ten days at a time." Dad explained, which made Stephen's lip curl ever so slightly.

"Not to mention wrestle an anaconda _and_ save a whale!" Connor added, skipping forward. I frowned, not remembering hearing about that. Maybe he was taking the piss, although I wouldn't put it past Stephen to do that. Except the anaconda thing, knowing his hatred of snakes.

After trekking for what seemed like hours, we came across a large tree which bore no leaves. An emaciated, dead black cow hung amongst the branches, rotting already. The smell was pungent, so much so I held my nostrils shut.

"Cutter!" Stephen called as we stared up at the corpse.

"Ok, now I'm getting interested." Dad admitted. All of us were thinking the same thing - _What killed that cow, and how did it get up there._ It could be a very creative and sadistic prank, but that was almost as unlikely as a large creature dragging it up there. More evidence was definitely needed.

"Professor!" Connor called, staring at his compass. "My compass is going haywire." He said, holding it up and passing it over to Dad. I stepped closer and looked at the compass, the needle spinning and constantly changing directions. I swallowed. _Could still be a prank of epic proportions._ I wasn't going to rule it out just yet, although I had no idea what could possibly create a strong enough magnetic field to cancel out the Earth's own magnetic field. Whatever it was, it'd need a _lot_ of power. Maybe Connor's conspiracy ideas weren't so crazy after all.


	4. Chapter 4

After leaving the dead cow in the tree, we pressed on, even when the sun started to set. With the twilight came a cold breeze and torches were needed to see. My stomach rumbled desperately - I'd finished the second packet of crisps two hours ago and my lemonade had almost completely run out. I blamed Claudia on that part.

A load groan echoed through the night, coating my tongue in a lumpy rotten flavour that threatened to make me gag. We all stopped dead in our tracks, listening, barely breathing. My heart hammered in my chest as my eyes darted around, landing only in darkness.

Out of nowhere, a huge creature waddled into the clearing in front of us. If it hadn't been for the torches, perhaps we wouldn't have noticed it. The beast was as tall as an elephant, if not taller, and was covered in scales. Its head resembled that of a bearded dragon, but I'd never seen a reptile that big - I had been quite sure that they'd all died out millions of years ago. I let out a ragged breath, staring at the creature in awe and disbelief.

"Don't move." Dad said in a low voice, his torchlight landing on a young woman, who couldn't have been more than twenty three, although I couldn't quite tell in the light. The girl slowly turned to face us, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief. She had short white-blonde hair, and she herself was quite short but athletically built. She was quite beautiful, in my opinion, in a punk, don't mess with me kind of way.

"Is it real?" She asked breathily. Her voice was sweet, like raspberries or strawberries. It was fruity nevertheless. My eyes left her to stare at the creature. My brain could hardly comprehend it. Dad stepped closer to it, inspecting it to try and find out what it was.

"Some kind of experiment. Maybe." He surmised, but anyone could tell he wasn't sure. He then muttered something to himself that I couldn't hear, and then asked the girl who she was.

"Abby Maitland. I'm a keeper and Wellington Zoo." She told us as the creature began to sniff at the ferns and foliage on the ground, and began biting at it. If there was any doubt as to whether or not it was a herbivore, that doubt was now gone.

"It's a reptile, five or six tons at least." Dad began, examining the creature, stepping ever closer to it. "Large supratemporal bodice … huge osteoderms on its back. It must be some kind of anapsid." He concluded, heading towards the creatures rear. It didn't like that.

"A tortoise?" Abby asked incredulously. The creature barked loudly at Dad when he got too close, warning him to back off. I'm sure all of us took a few steps back, not just Dad. Mouldy vegetables cloaked my mouth and I pulled a face, sipping at the last of my lemonade.

"Stay in his field of vision." Abby warned. "You're making him nervous." And with that, Dad stepped closer to her and into the creature's field of vision.

"I was right. It was a dinosaur in that warehouse!" Connor laughed, pulled out his phone and took a picture. The bright flash in the creature's eyes made it bark once more, and I could have kicked Connor for that. But I didn't, I just licked up the last few drops of lemonade and put the bottle in my bag, sighing.

Claudia scolded Connor, snatching his phone and deleting the photograph angrily. The fact that she was trying to take over the situation frustrated me, but I didn't say anything. It was then I noticed Dad bending down and staring at something. Stephen joined him, shining his light on the ground in front of them. A small chirp sounded from the spot.

"Bloody hell. There's two of them." Stephen said softly. I moved forward to see what they were looking at, and saw a small bright green lizard.

"Where did that come from?" Dad asked, staring at the little beast. I didn't care much for the little lizard - it was the big one that had captured my interest. It couldn't be from anywhere near here, seeing as reptiles need sun and heat, especially ones this big. So how did it get here?

Abby told Dad and Stephen how she acquired the small lizard and they continued to discuss things I couldn't hear whilst I sat down and leaned against a tree sleepily. I barely noticed when Dad crouched next to me to tell me the plan of action.

"Abby, Claudia, and I are going to the boy's house where she got the lizard to see where he got it from. You can either stay here or come with us." He said, but I was barely awake.

"I'll stay here. Maybe I'll get some sleep." I chuckled, my eyelids heavy. "Get me some food whilst you're gone." I said as he rose and put a hand on my head, stroking my hair once before moving off. "Oh, and a drink please!" I called after him, and he just shook his head and continued on with Abby and Claudia. I had to admit, I was thankful Claudia was gone, even if I was a little more tense due to there being fewer people around.

After I'd had a short doze, I woke to a short bark which jolted me awake. The creature was still there, and so were Stephen and Connor. I shook my head. My half-awake dreams had led me to believe the creature was a hologram, and although I knew it couldn't possibly be true, I had to check.

I stood and slowly approached the creature, making sure that I stayed within its field of vision like Abby had said. I didn't get far without being questioned, however.

"What are you doing?" Stephen asked when I was almost within arm's reach of the animal. I edged a tiny bit closer, the creature keeping its eye on me.

"I want to touch it, just in case. Like what if it's a hologram or something." I said softly, not turning to face him. I could hear him step closer to me though, and the creature made a low rumbling noise.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Megs." Stephen said, but he was too late. I gently placed my hand on the creature's front leg and gasped. It sure was real. The creature pulled away and gave an aggravated roar, turning towards me. I backed off, stumbling backwards into Stephen, who wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back. I was breathing heavily, laughing quietly. Stephen didn't think it was funny though.

"Don't do that again." He scolded, letting me go, his breathing slightly elevated. I nodded. "Are you okay?" He asked, to which I nodded again.

"It's real. Definitely real. Wow." I could barely believe it, even if I had just touched the thing. I rubbed my eyes but the creature was still there. It had calmed down and continued eating the ferns nearby. "Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. I just … I had to touch it." I looked over at him, and although he was frowning, he didn't look angry. He just grunted and watched the creature, his frown quickly fading and his face changing to that of awe.

I stepped back towards the tree I had fallen asleep against and slid down until I was sat again. I could feel my eyelids getting droopy again, and I closed them, but kept opening an eye every few seconds, just in case.

"It's got to be a dinosaur." Connor said after a while. I opened my eyes and raised an eyebrow at him.

"It could be anything. A mutation from a lab that escaped. Something from a private zoo.." Stephen told him, sighing.

"Yeah, it could be anything. We don't even know where it came from yet." I added, and Connor went quiet for a moment, but his smile never faded.

"You know this is going to win me the Nobel prize." Connor laughed enthusiastically. I highly doubted that Claudia would let us tell anyone.

"We don't know what we're dealing with yet." Stephen said, sounding disheartened. I wasn't sure if that was due to stress or tiredness or just the fact he had to babysit me and Connor, but it wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't happy.

"Come on, it looks like a dinosaur, it behaves like a dinosaur - it's a dinosaur!" Connor insisted. I scoffed and closed my eyes again. "It's a missing link to the ancient past … And I discovered it." He boasted, but before Stephen or I could argue, a shout echoed through the forest.

"Stephen!" Soggy cereal danced lightly in my mouth. My eyes shot open, and after my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw torches waving wildly about and their wielders racing towards us. I picked myself off the ground just as the creature spooked and ran away from the incoming group.

"Whoa- where is it going?" Connor asked just as it bolted past him.

"Let him go! It's scared! Let's see where it thinks it's safe." Dad shouted, almost passing us. The three of us ran alongside them, shouting and waving out torches. I tried to focus on one person's voice but all the sounds were creating an amalgamation of hybrid flavours in my mouth, and it was almost too much. I stared at my feet and the ground just ahead of me, trying to focus on not being sick. Another sound began to mix in with the flavours and soon took over as the strongest taste.

The forest grew lighter and lighter until I noticed everyone slow down and stop next to me, so I followed suit and looked up at the cause of the light and sound. A huge glowing orb floated just above the ground, its entire being appeared to be made from a shattered mirror that shot out white light from it's centre and made the most beautiful music.

The creature raced to the orb and seemed to pass straight through it, but it did not appear on the other side. My eyes widened involuntarily.

"Where's it gone?" Claudia asked, but the sound of her voice didn't even bother me - I could barely sense it over the sound the orb made. The only person who dared to speak was Dad, and even he dared not say more than a word.

"Home."


	5. Chapter 5

Claudia had called her people at the Home Office and within half an hour, people in white overalls had arrived in their big black cars, taking tests and asking questions. I'd recited my account of the day three times over by the time they decided I didn't have more to offer them. The government scientists had set up tents and were taking photographs and asking everyone the same questions individually.

As a minor, they decided not to keep me for long, probably at Dad's request. So I was left to sit on a pile of boxes, where Abby had joined me, and we both stared at the orb. It played the same few notes over and over again, but the effect was divine, the taste ambrosial and dazzling. Everything about the orb was mesmerising.

But that wasn't the only thing that it had done to affect me - I could feel it. The orb's music gave me goosebumps, and I could have sworn I felt something caressing my skin. I felt it at first on my cheeks and arms, but then it spread down my neck and shoulders to my back and down my legs to my feet. I could have sat there forever in the light of the orb, if it hadn't been for life continuing around me.

Connor stood in front of the shattered mirror, fiddling with his pen when he dropped it. Instead of it falling to the floor, however, the pen was sucked into the orb, which tinkled lightly. Both Connor and myself opened our mouths in shock. It explained the messed up compass, by any means, but it was still trippy.

Connor tried again, with another metal object, and although he laughed at first, he then froze. "Oh, that was my front door key." I chuckled and turned to Abby, who still looked confused.

"Things are about to change, majorly." I told her, but she didn't look back at me. She just nodded and stayed quiet. "I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Megan, Nick's kid." I said, and at this she turns, a small smile on her face.

"Abby." She said, and her attention goes back to the orb. It was hard to find something to say at a time like this, so I didn't bother any further. Instead, I leaned on my hands, closed my eyes and just listened.

"You're thinking about Helen, aren't you." I heard Stephen say, which caught my attention. It wasn't to me, though, so I kept my eyes closed and try not to react. Mum had barely crossed my mind since I saw the creature. I'd been too tired or focussed on other things, like my three recounts of the day or figuring out what on earth was going on.

"It explains everything." Dad says, and it makes sense. She disappeared through the orb and got stuck somewhere. Or something … It definitely explained why she was so interested in the area before she disappeared.

"Except why she didn't come back." Stephen added. I didn't want to think about that. _Maybe she died-_ No. Stop. _Maybe she-_ Nope. I got up and walked away until they were out of earshot and I leaned against another tree. I couldn't bare to hear the rest of that conversation. My thoughts whirred for a moment, and I had to stop my thoughts from wandering to mum.

Slowly, but surely, I nodded off again, the orb's music relaxing me and letting my thoughts float off into the void, where my dreams took over. I saw the orb, but it looked different, less bright in the sunlight. It was approaching sunset … or just after sunrise. A backpack lay just before the orb, tattered with blood on it. It seemed familiar- The orb moved. Flickered. The sound it made was odd, and didn't produce the same effects on me that it usually did.

In the centre of the orb was a human figure, but I couldn't see who it was. "Megan." I heard her voice. It was mum. I raced to the orb, stopping just before it. "Come with me, Megan." She said. I took a step forward. Something growled beyond the orb. "Megan." She called again, and I took another step forward. Another growl sounded, this time even louder, and it was accompanied by the quick paced thudding of racing footsteps.

"Megan!" The voice was distorting, and as I took another step forward, something pounced on me, forcing me onto my back. "Megan!"

I awoke to find Stephen shaking my shoulder. "Megan." He was crouched beside me, his blue eyes stared deep into mine, shocking me further into alertness. The music of the orb returned to my ears, too, and somehow it comforted me.

"What, what, I'm awake. I'm awake." I rapidly blinked away my blurry vision and sat up. My stomach rumbled. Ugh. "What's going on?"

"Cutter's gone to the Home Office with Claudia and Abby, something about an official secrets act. We'll have to sign that later, but Cutter didn't want to wake you." Stephen explained, standing. I nodded and yawned.

"Ah right, cool … So, wait, why'd you wake me?" I asked, pulling myself to my feet and stretching my still-asleep muscles. Stephen exhaled softly before coming clean.

"Connor and I are going to look for the creature that killed the cow and put it in the tree. Didn't want to leave you on your own without you knowing where everyone was." Stephen said, piquing my interest. The fact that there had to be another creature had completely slipped my mind, but now I thought about it, it was obvious - the creatures we had found couldn't possibly have done it, and it was too much of a coincidence for the cow to be unrelated …

"You're not leaving me on my own." I said, stepping towards him. "You're not leaving me here, I'm coming with you." I continued, ignoring Stephen's indignant head shaking. "I'm not staying here, Stephen."

"Nick woul-"

"He's not here. Anyway, he doesn't have to know." I watched as Stephen's right eye twitched and his face grew cold. "I'll just follow you if you say no. You can't stop me doing that." I added, raising an eyebrow and smiling cheekily. Stephen turned around and stepped a few paces away, then sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. I'd cracked him. I was good at that.

"Cutter's going to kill me when he finds out." He said, partially to himself, and turned back to face me. I eagerly walked towards him. "Stay close to me. Do as I say when I say it. If I say run, you run. If I say be quiet, you be silent. Whatever creature put that cow in the tree has got to be large and incredibly strong and probably very dangerous. Cutter will kill me if you get hurt, so don't do anything stupid." Stephen's serious lecture threw me a little, and I nodded sincerely, the smile wiped from my face. Part of me didn't even want to go, but I'd made such a fuss to come that I couldn't possibly go back on it; my pride wouldn't allow it. No, I was tagging along.

Stephen trudged off ahead, and I took one last look at the orb before following suit, assuring myself that it'd still be there when I got back. I sighed and trotted to catch up to Stephen, who was lost in his own head. I called over Connor, who shoved something into his rucksack before chasing after us, his excitement feeding into my own.

"Where is our starting point?" I asked Stephen, almost jogging to keep up with his pace. The corner of his lip twitched, and he turned to face me to answer.

"Back to where we know it has definitely been." He told us, to which I pulled a face. "The cow."


End file.
